A critical take on PM Orbán’s tax rebate plan
June 12th, 2021A left-wing columnist comments on the Prime Minister’s income tax waiver plan for 2021. He accuses the government of trying to buy votes., but is confident that Hungarians will not fall for it.
In Népszava, Zsolt Papp interprets the Prime Minister’s plan to refund personal income tax paid in 2021 if the growth rate surpasses 5.5 per cent (see BudaPost June 11) as a desperate effort to buy votes ahead of the 2022 Parliamentary election. The left-wing pundit recalls that the government recently abolished income tax for the under 25s (see BudaPost January 22) and announced a pension hike (see BudaPost May 1). Papp thinks that a government which, in his view, has syphoned off public money to fill the pockets of its own politicians and their allies, has realized that it is about to lose the next election, and want to increase support by waiving taxes. Papp is firmly confident that voters are not going to vote Fidesz in return for a couple of thousand Forints offered as a bribe, because they understand that if politicians do not steal it, tax revenue could be used to improve education, health care, the police, strengthen the rule of law and create public wealth.